The Holiday Season Can Be a Terrifying Experience for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.
Lottie is looking forward to spending time with her relatives this Christmas, but admits a key strategy she'll cope is by using her earplugs - particularly at Christmas dinner.
In her case, this time of year often feels like a particularly difficult period as the sounds of people eating, slurping and breathing heavily make her feel profound anxiety.
"There's this wave of immediate anxiety, my entire being will just tighten and it as though I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to manage these noises."
She has lived with this condition from a young age and for her that makes the festive season "deeply taxing".
Misophonia is a decreased threshold to certain sounds, particularly those coming from those around you.
The condition is widespread amongst adults. A study reported a significant portion of people suffer from it.
Often it's noises associated with bodily functions that trigger a reaction, including things like chewing, breathing, and repetitive finger tapping.
A Source of Dread
Lottie says: "You encounter so many assorted problematic noises at Christmas and that can be stressful and make you fear it.
"My relatives are understanding, but I'm very mindful that I don't want to spoil the mood. It's like a really big battle of enduring my distress to ensure others enjoy themselves."
So it's clear why the supposedly joyous period can transform into a stressful ordeal for sufferers.
Triggers that may seem harmless, like someone sipping a beverage, unwrapping gifts, or tucking into a Christmas dinner can provoke a visceral feeling that can even result in them withdrawing from gatherings.
The student, a university student, who has dealt with misophonia for over a decade, explains currently her plan is to listen to music to cope. On any other day, she would frequently go in a separate space to avoid distressing triggers.
She notes her sensitivity is more intense around people she's most comfortable with, so Christmas is always "challenging".
"There's an expectation to be around family, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.
"The sensation is this uncontrollable anger comes over me, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel stressed and burst into tears and then the stress response will kick in.
"To others it appears as if I'm being unreasonable and overreacting, but it's hard to explain without firsthand experience."
A Few Techniques to Manage
If you suffer then there are a few methods you can try to cope the situation, based on advice from experts.
- Imagine an Alternative: Creative thinking is key. Work on connecting the particular sound causing distress with something completely different. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's noisy drinking is just a gentle stream. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound affecting you isn't harmful.
- Try a Competition: Use lightheartedness and make the irritating noise into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly attempt joining in. Through participation, instead of feeling like the sound is unwanted, you become an active participant. And the game aspect should help distract your brain and make you a little less affected.
- Develop a Narrative: A further strategy is to try to invent a reason about why the person making the noise is having to make that sound. Imagine if someone was making a nasal sound, perhaps they're not in good health or maybe they're upset. The idea is re-framing the context of the sound. While the noise stays the same, your reaction of it changes from being annoying, to feeling a little more neutral towards it.
